"Well, then, I—I—er—vote—that we—er——"
"By jing! Jimmy," interposed Tom, with a jeer, "who'd 'a' thought you'd 'a' showed the white feather!"
"White feather yourself, Hawkins!" returned the fearful but now angry boy.
"Jimmy!" broke in Yellow Billy unexpectedly, for as a rule the half-caste was taciturn—the taciturnity of modesty in his case. Billy, while carrying some of the defects of aboriginal descent, was a kind-hearted and easily contented lad. "Jimmy!" said he, in a soft, quiet tone, "s'pose your mother was over there?"
Jimmy Flynn, who was sitting with a sullen, hang-dog expression, quivered as though he had received an electric shock. There was within him a consciousness of the truth of Tom's term. He was a coward, and the very notion of it angered him, and at the same time made him resentful. He shrank from the undertaking. None of the boys were in love with it, for that matter. Jimmy only, among the four, allowed his fear to overmaster him.
These few words of Billy, uttered in a quiet, even tone, went straight to the boy's heart. His sullen brows lifted. The angry resentment which had disfigured his face vanished. Straightening his bent figure, he seized the oar lying by his side. Then, squaring his shoulders, as he inclined forward to grip the water, he said quietly, "Let her go."
Immediately on releasing the boat Joe steered her in a semicircular course, keeping out back where the standing timber was thinnest. The boys pulled slowly, for there was always the danger of snags. They were in fairly slack water, and so had no need to exert themselves; besides which, it were wise to husband their strength for the supreme moment.
Tom and Jimmy, both expert oarsmen, were the rowers. Yellow Billy was stationed in the bow, with instructions to keep a keen look out for snags. He was armed with a stout pole in order that he might fend the boat on any critical occasion, or when the rudder might be inoperative. It formed a very useful instrument in Billy's practised hands, and enabled him to ward off the craft from many dangers that did not appear until the boat was almost upon them. As it was there were several ominous scrapes, as the boat rasped over submerged branches. Fortunately they reached the point determined upon without any accident.
They paused here a moment before leaving the slack water for the swiftly running stream.
"Now, boys," said Joe, after a brief survey, "sit steady, and pull for all you're worth. Mind you, no flurry. Keep an even stroke. Got the painter coiled, Billy?"